Always a Wanderer

by Danica Winters

  “Danger?” he asked, wishing for once that instead of being able to see auras, he could read people’s minds.

  She said nothing. Instead she picked up a pair of shoes by the end of her bed and, with one hand, slipped them on her shaky feet. “Just text Giorgio and tell ’im to meet us at the openin’. We might need ’im.”

  “Why?”

  She looked over at him and put her hand on the doorknob. “Do ya know how to disarm a bomb? I don’t, but Giorgio might.”

  She was right; the former Greek special forces member might not know exactly what to do, but he would have a better shot than either of them, or even both of them put together. Graham nodded and reached for his mobile.

  “Wait until we’re gone.” She slipped out the door and motioned for him to be quiet as he followed her out.

  He looked back toward the kitchen, but he couldn’t see anyone. He wasn’t sure that he agreed with her logic in slipping out without letting the others know what was going on, but, like her, he wanted to keep them safe.

  It wasn’t a long drive to the hospital. A crowd of the patients’ family and friends were already milling about under the white pavilions his staff had set up for the occasion. Nurses were wheeling patients out in wheelchairs and parking them in the shade. Balloons floated lazily in the cool fall air. Everything was just so normal, completely at odds with the disaster they were trying to avert.

  He pulled the car to a stop.

  John stood beside the pavilion’s bar, a tumbler of scotch in his hand. He was busy talking to a group of men and didn’t seem to notice their arrival.

  “I think we ought to be sendin’ all these people home,” Helena said, motioning to the group that had already started celebrating.

  Graham stared at John. One of the men he stood with was smoking a cigar, and the smoke wafted up, catching in the white fabric above their heads like a storm cloud.

  “We’re never going to be able to convince my stepfather to get everyone to leave. John’s glad-handing. He’s not going to lose this chance to generate buzz about the manor. This is basically his Christmas. Unless you can convince him that his money’s in danger.”

  “Somethin’ far more precious than money is at risk. Ya—” She gave him a look that made chills move down his spine.

  “Is something bad going to happen to me?” A sense of panic filled him. “What did you see? Am I going to die?”

  She got out of the car without answering him. He jumped out and ran around to her.

  He took her by the arms. “Tell me right now, Helena. Did you see my death?”

  She looked anywhere but at him, telling him exactly what he needed to know.

  “I don’t know what I saw, Graham. We just gotta stop the HG from hurtin’ anyone.”

  He let go of her, numb. Her visions weren’t always right, but he couldn’t find comfort in the thought this time—not when his death was a possibility.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Ach?” She frowned, clearly not realizing that he had already gotten the answer he had been searching for. “I’m...I’m all right. Why?”

  “I’m going to die. I know you saw it. Are you okay?”

  Her mouth opened, like she was going to speak but couldn’t find the right words.

  “It’s okay, Helena. I...I’m okay with whatever happens as long as I can stop anyone else from getting hurt. Okay?” In truth, he didn’t want to die, but if he died for the greater good, he couldn’t help but think that perhaps it was meant to be.

  With so much talk about the Fates, he wondered if perhaps this was the plan they’d had in place for him all along, from the moment he had first seen Helena O’Driscoll outside Limerick Prison.

  His laugh sounded out of place in the dangerously still afternoon.

  “I’m not going to let anythin’ happen. You’re not gonna die. My vision, it was a mistake.” She talked quickly, like she was trying to convince herself what she was saying was true.

  He didn’t buy her lies. She’d had some visions that were wrong, but most had paralleled what came to be.

  “Aye, you’re right,” he said, trying to validate her feelings. He wasn’t sure if he should feed her desperate hope, or if he should help her understand that her gift was preparing her for the inevitable, but he went with his gut. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  He leaned in and wrapped her in his arms. If he was going to die, it wasn’t going to happen before he got the chance to kiss her one last time.

  She met his ravenous kiss with a hunger as voracious as his. She took his lips, pulling the bottom one into her mouth and sucking. He grumbled, the sound something between a moan of pleasure and one of pain—but it wasn’t physical pain that made him make the noise. Rather, it was the pain of knowing that he had found something he wanted with every millimeter of his being, and that he might never have another chance at a moment like this.

  He reached up and took her face in both of his hands. “Helena—” He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he wanted every part of her until the end of time, yet he stopped.

  It didn’t seem right. If he was going to die, he didn’t want to weigh her down with his emotions. When he was gone, she needed the freedom to follow her heart—even if that meant falling in love with someone else.

  “Aye?” she asked, looking up at him with her beautiful brown eyes.

  He would miss those eyes. Her breath caressed his damp lips, making him want all of her.

  “Nothing,” he said, shaking his head as he tried to convince her. “Just kiss me.”

  She smiled, and some of the darkness left her eyes as he pulled her face toward him and kissed her lips again. She tasted sweet, like a summer berry, and he wondered how he’d never really noticed that about her before. As he thought back, he realized it wasn’t just her lips that tasted that sweet.

  His body responded to the thought, growing hard and pressing against his kilt and moving against her belly.

  She sucked in a breath through their kiss, probably as she felt him against her. Thankfully their embrace was mostly hidden from view thanks to her open car door and the truck parked next to them.

  Glancing over toward the crowd, as if to make sure that no one was paying them any mind, she slipped her hand down the front of his kilt and rubbed it against him, making his breath catch. She let go of his lip and leaned back just far enough that she could speak. He dropped his hands to her hips. She felt so good under his fingertips.

  “Next time, there won’t be any visions to get in the way,” she said, her voice thick with want. She slipped her hand over him, taking hold and stroking him.

  “Oh,” he moaned. “Oh Jaysus.”

  It felt so good to have her take control of him, to make him want her so badly, but now wasn’t the time or the place.

  It was so hard to say no. “Helena...” He leaned his head back, just feeling her hand as it moved over his length. “We...the bomb.”

  She let go of him, as though for a moment she had also gotten lost. “Aye.” Her voice was filled with sadness.

  He dropped his hands from her body.

  She ran her fingers through her hair and looked down at her chest. “Ach.” She pointed at the dried blood from the spell. “I can’t be walkin’ around like this.” Reaching into the car, she grabbed a napkin from the glove box and wiped away the crumbling bits of dried blood.

  “You’re still beautiful.”

  She looked up at him with an entrancing smile. She really was the most incredible woman he’d ever known. Everything about her—her strength, her willingness to learn, her ambition, and her passion. She was all he could have ever wanted in a woman.

  But as much as he loved her, she could never be his.

  A little piece of his heart fell away.

  “You’re always such a charmer,” she said, closing the top buttons of her blouse. As she looked past him, toward the hospital, her smile disappeared. “Did ya text Giorgio and tell him that we needed him?”


  He nodded, and he flattened his kilt to cover the residual attraction he was feeling. “He’s going to meet us in the hospital in five. Apparently your sister didn’t take it well that we just up and disappeared. They were all afraid something bad had happened to you, so I had to tell them a bit about what we were doing.”

  “They aren’t all comin’ over here, are they?”

  “I told them not to, but they were all supposed to be here for the ceremony. I told them it was dangerous, but you know them. They have their own minds.”

  “You need to text them and have them all go to the abbey. They need to stay safe. And we’re going to have to hurry.” She slammed the car door shut and rushed toward the hospital. “No matter what happens, Graham, don’t ya be leavin’ me. And don’t go tryin’ to act the hero.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  THE HOSPITAL WAS ABUZZ with activity. The nurses were helping the healthier patients out of their rooms and escorting them to the ceremony. Giorgio stood at full attention beside the nurses’ station, and as he saw them approach, he rushed over.

  “I told the nurses they are to take all patients, even those who are less than healthy, out of the building.” He motioned to the nurse walking by them, who was pushing an elderly man in a wheelchair.

  The nurse saw him and gave them a well-practiced smile. “Good luck today, sir. Miss.” She gave Helena a salutatory bow of the head as she kept walking.

  “Aye. Thanks.” Graham nodded.

  The woman didn’t know how much they needed luck.

  As the nurse made her way out of the doors, Giorgio turned to them. “Where’s the bomb?”

  Helena nibbled at the inside of her cheek. “I dunno...exactly.”

  “What the bloody hell do you mean you don’t know exactly?” Giorgio’s face twitched with anger.

  “I just saw what I saw.”

  “Graham said you knew exactly—”

  “I told him that so he wouldn’t do somethin’ crazy in an attempt to keep me away—to make sure I was safe,” she said, sending Graham a guilty look. “I couldn’t let him come in here alone, Giorgio.” Fear colored her voice.

  So that was how it was fated to be. He was going to come into the hospital alone, and then the bomb was going to explode. He tried to quell the terror rising within his chest.

  “Aye.” Giorgio took a deep breath. “Do you know what kind of bomb it is? Is there a timer? Is it set off by activity or proximity?”

  Helena shrugged. “I dunno. I didn’t see none of that. All I know is that I saw an explosion. And the hospital collapsed.” She glanced over at Graham and shot him the same concerned look she’d been giving him ever since she’d returned to reality.

  Giorgio ran his hands over his face in frustration. “I’ll start in the mechanical room and move through the basement. Graham, you—”

  “He’s not leavin’ my side,” Helena said, not letting Giorgio continue.

  He looked over at Graham.

  “Aye,” Graham said. “We’ll work through the first floor. I’ll contact you if we find anything.”

  “I’ll do likewise.” Giorgio turned and hurried toward the stairs to the lower level.

  “Are you even sure it’s a bomb?” he asked, waiting until Giorgio was out of earshot.

  “There’s no question in my mind.” She motioned to the staff locker room and led the way toward it to start their search.

  “Did you see anything else? Anything that would help us stop them?” he asked, following her toward the room.

  There were stacks of blue scrubs lining the walls, each size on a different shelf, and a door near the back led to the adjoining break room.

  “Look, I wish I had all the answers,” she said, picking through the stacks of clothing near the floor. “But ya know how limited I am. I don’t get the answers. I don’t get to see the whole scene. I only see bits and pieces. It’s up to us to put it together.”

  He made quick work of the shelf nearest him, finding nothing but more blue scrubs and a set of hemostats. Not for the first time, he wished that he were more gifted—that he could have had an ability that would be of more use than simply reading auras. If only he could walk through walls, be invisible, or be all-powerful. It wasn’t that he wanted to be a god; he just longed to be able to fight the forces that seemed to constantly be on the attack.

  “What did the men look like who planted the bomb?”

  “I only saw the man from the stables. He was with another. They were laughing. And the other one, he had the same brand as Neill.”

  Graham wasn’t surprised a group like that, a hate group, would brand their members like cattle. It was ironic how narrow-mindedness could make a person into a mirror image of the thing they claimed to hate the most.

  “Let’s take a look in the break room,” he said, motioning toward the adjoining space.

  Helena stood up and brushed the dust off her knees. “The man who stood next to the bald one had an abnormally long, hooked nose. Blue eyes. He almost looked like a bird. And he had this scar,” she said, running her fingers down the side of her face.

  She pulled open the door, and through the small opening, Graham saw John. He was talking to a balding, rotund man and both of their backs were turned toward them.

  “John, just because you acted, it doesn’t change the fact that you compromised our agreement,” the balding man said.

  Graham recognized the voice of the man from the equestrian center.

  What was John doing talking to someone from the HG?

  Graham stopped Helena. He shook his head and motioned for her to look into the other room. As she caught a glimpse of the men, her face turned red with anger and she opened the door wider, but Graham stopped her with another shake of his head.

  He found some measure of comfort in the fact that these two particular men were standing inside the hospital. If there were any possibility of the HG’s bomb going off, their leader wouldn’t have been within the hospital’s walls.

  “Look, you can’t let your men complete their mission. I’ve made amends for the gypsy’s father having killed Neill. I never intended for anything like that to happen,” John said. “But if you had kept your man in check, he wouldn’t have died. At the most basic level, all of this is your fault. You are the ones who broke the treaty. If you hadn’t been greedy, wanting more than what I was willing to give, Seamus wouldn’t have learned of your plan. He wouldn’t have gone after your man.”

  The bald man laughed. “Don’t blame this on us. My man went rogue, just as yours did. This is why you and I have no business working together. We don’t need your fleas and freaks.”

  “Remember, this arrangement benefits you just as much as it benefits me. If you act, you will be forcing my hand, and you can kiss your headquarters goodbye.”

  The round man laughed, the sound arrogant. “You have no grounds to threaten me. You are one man; we are many. I could have you killed in a matter of hours.”

  “Don’t underestimate me, Benjamin.”

  The name rang a bell. Benjamin Poole was the notorious leader of the HG. Yet, at the equestrian center, Benjamin had been taking orders from the man in the shadows. Did that mean that Benjamin was the face of the group, but really worked for someone else, someone more powerful?

  “It comes down to the fact that we are going to need some sort of recompense. This was to be a major coup for our organization. We’ve spent tens of thousands of pounds on marketing and pulling new cadets from the rally. It would be a disaster if we were to have done all this work but fail at our mission. We have to stop the supernaturals. They are dangerous. For all we know, they’re going to use their powers to take over our country. They’re evil—every last one of them.”

  “You can’t honestly believe that. Have you ever even met one with powers?”

  Graham couldn’t believe his stepfather was actually standing up for their cause, but then again, how could he not? He had a son and wife the HG wanted to eradicate.
/>   “When I was a child,” Benjamin began, “I had a friend who was a bit off. He could warm things with his hands. At first I thought it was some kind of party trick. But one day, he and I were playing around at my parents’ house. He lost control. The entire place burned—my parents included. And who do you think paid the price? I lost my parents, and no one believed me when I told them about my friend and his mutation. I was called the freak. Worse, a murderer. I was put into Oberstown Youth Detention Center. He walked free.”

  “Not all are evil. I’m sure it was an accident,” John argued.

  The man laughed, the sound low and menacing. “That doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Even untrained, they can kill. Can you imagine what they could be capable of if they concentrated their efforts? They have to be stopped. They all have to die. We can’t pass up an opportunity to take out the ones within these walls.”

  “You won’t be failing if you choose to leave this group. I promise you that the people within these walls wish you no harm, Benjamin. I can give you something else,” John said, with an edge of desperation. “Something I know you want.”

  “What can you possibly offer me that would be as advantageeous as killing these here? What do you think you can give me that I can’t get on my own?” the man asked with a sneer.

  “What if I can get you the gypsy—the clairvoyant?”

  Helena went stiff beside him, and her nostrils flared in anger. She moved toward the door, but Graham reached out and took her hand, shaking his head in an effort to keep her from charging through the doors and attacking the men.

  “I can kill a hundred freaks if I act—that is far better than one,” Benjamin said.

  “Your chance to kill hundreds is already over. Did you look around on your way in? They are emptying the hospi-tal. Without your guarantee that you will disarm the bomb, I won’t have them return. You won’t get the chance to act.”

  The man laughed. “Your argument is feeble. You well know how easy it was to get my people behind your people’s lines. If I want something, I’ll just take it. Just like I’m going to get what I want with this rally. My group needs a win.”